October 8, 2010

Maroon Tide outlasts Stone 49-34

by Carey Meitzler

Picayune--Despite surrending over 500 yards total offense, Picayune remained undefeated by outscoring the

Stone Tomcats 49-34 at Picayune Memorial Stadium.   The moves the Maroon Tide to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in

Region 3-5A.

Stone executed a pooch kickoff that resulted in a Tide fumble and the Tomcats took their first snap at the 'Yune 33.

Four plays later with the line of scrimmage at the 11 yard line, Scottie Merrill intercepted a Clint Hatten pass at the

Tide 3 and returned it to the 17 yard line.

Picayune converted two first downs, but had to punt and Stone took over at their 27.

On second down, linebacked Cody Smith intercepted a pass and raced 12 yards for a touchdown.  Pacer Frierson

converted the PAT for a 7-0 lead with 4:56 left in the first quarter.

All photos by John Young

Jamal Hall is chased by Darion Arrington.

Stone responded driving from their 43 to the Tide 15 yard line and settled for a 33 yard field goal by Sam Fountain

with 2:45 left.

Picayune put together a 4 play 69 yard drive with Scottie Merrill scoring from 7 yards out.  On the second play of

the series, Jamal Hall had a 43 yard run to move the ball from the Tide 45 to the Stone 12 before Merrill ran for

5 yards to the 7 setting up his TD run.  Frierson's PAT made it 14-3 with 1:23 left.

Ben Hickman (16) tosses the ball to Scottie Merrill (22) as Maurice Jones (32), Joel Davis (36), Malcolm Faciane (88),

Christian McDougal (56), Andrew Frierson (53), and Kresean Bowens (58) block.

Stone came back with a 4 play 70 yard drive that took just 1:29 off the clock.  The touchdown came on a 26 pass

from Hatten to tight end Cade Amacker with 11:47 left in the second quarter.  Fountain kicked the PAT to make it

14-10.

Picayune started at their 32 after the Stone kickoff.  The Maroon Tide drove 68 yards in 8 plays taking 3:31 to score.

Hall went in from 2 yards out and Frierson converted the extra point for a 21-10 lead with 8:16 left.

Stone's first play after the kickoff resulted in a turnover as Merrill forced a fumble and Malcolm Faciane recovered

at the Tide 47.

Ben Hickman (16) releases a pass as Joey Reynolds (62) and Jamal Hall (2) provide pass protection

The Maroon Tide drove the 53 yards in 12 plays using 5:12 off the clock.  Hall ran in from 3 yards out with 2:47 left.

Frierson kicked the PAT to make it 28-10.

Stone converted a first down, but could go no further and a short punt the ball back to Picayune with :18 left to

the Tide 42. On first down, Merrill ran for 11 yards to the Stone 47 yard line.   On the next play, Ben Hickman passed

to Justin Mark who took the pass in around the 35 yard line and zig-zagged his way through the secondary for the

touchdown as time expired.  Frierson's PAT gave Picayune a 35-10 halftime lead.

Stone scored on the second play of the third quarter on an 83 yard run by Darion Arrington.  Fountain's PAT made

it 35-17 with 10:44 left.

B.J. Jeansonne (17) forces a fumble

Scottie Merrill (22) turns the corner.

Picayune fumbled at their own 24 on the next possession and Stone would score on a 30 run by Hatten with 8:05 left.

Fountain converted the PAT to make it 35-24.

Picayune fumbled again, but Stone turned the ball back over on downs at the Tide 30.  Picayune drove 70 yards on

9 plays with Hall scoring from 34 yards out and Frierson once again booted the extra point to give Picayune a 42-24

lead with :05 left in the third quarter.

Stone got a 28 yard field goal from Fountain on the next set of downs to cut the lead to 42-27 with 10:21 left in the game.

Picayune's last score came via a 4 yard run by Hal with 1:34 left.  Stone closed out the scoring with a 74 yard run

by Arrington with :14 left.

Hall finished with 270 yards on 33 carries. 

Picayune travels to Brookhaven on Friday to take on the Panthers who defeated Pearl River Central 34-0 last night.